Banquet hall repairs under way, Border eisteddfod to stay put

The Albury Wodonga Eisteddfod is scheduled to run from July 20 to August 11 at Albury Entertainment Centre, using the majority of the venue's theatre and convention wings.

Some doubt was cast over the event after a partial collapse of the ceiling within the entertainment centre's banquet hall on June 5.

No injuries were reported as the room was vacant at the time of the incident.

There was no single cause linked to the building failure.

Work began on July 1 after Albury Council appointed a contractor to remove and replace the ceiling.

It is due to be completed before the end of July 2024, which will allow events to resume at the banquet hall in August.

Albury Entertainment Centre manager Brendan Maher has worked closely with affected parties to secure alternative venues if required.

The eisteddfod committee has made some slight alterations to its program to ensure it can run in full.

Music disciplines use the banquet hall for the primary and secondary school orchestra and band competitions, choir days and the community music evening.

Speech and drama is also held at the banquet hall for large drama group sections that feature school and community groups, while dancers use it for change rooms during the dance troupe weekend.

Albury Wodonga Eisteddfod music co-ordinator Faith Casley-Porter said if the repair completion date of the end of July was delayed, alternative arrangements would be made, but she was confident that wouldn't happen.

"Brendan and the staff at the AEC have been wonderful as we worked through the planning process for the 2024 Albury Wodonga Eisteddfod and in helping determine if we will be impacted by the repairs," she said.

"The eisteddfod committee are very grateful to the AEC team for their ongoing support and guidance.

"We are fortunate that although the repairs are due to be completed while the eisteddfod is running, it is anticipated that we will not be impacted beyond some clever organisation of change rooms for the first day of our busy dance troupe weekend."

Ms Casley-Porter said the release of the eisteddfod's printed program was delayed until a timeline for repairs was made available to ensure the banquet hall could be used.

Dance runs from July 20 to 29 in the main theatre, music is held from July 29 to August 2 in the theatrette and banquet hall and at St Matthew's Church on August 3, speech and drama is from August 5 to 7 in the theatrette and banquet hall, while the highland dance section will take place on August 11 at The Scots School Albury.

"We are all busy with the final stages of planning but are looking forward to seeing some incredible performances in speech and drama, music and dance," she said.

"The number of entries has increased from last year with a significant increase in both dance and music.

"We would normally use an AEC venue for highland dance, but the venue was already booked on the required date, this was unrelated to the repairs at the banquet hall."

There have been several events booked for the venue, including the Albury Wodonga Bridal Fair, which was cancelled, the River Reflections conference, moved to the Commercial Club, and two debutante balls, that have required alternative arrangements as a result of the ceiling incident.

Albury mayor Kylie King was pleased to see repairs under way within a month of the incident.

"Once again, we're incredibly grateful that no one was injured as a result of the partial collapse of the ceiling, and it's great to see that this important community asset will be back to normal operation very soon," she said.

Albury councillors will vote at the council meeting on Monday, July 8, to award a tender for design works for upgrades to Albury Entertainment Centre's convention wing.

It is recommended the contract be given to Peddle Thorp Melbourne Pty Ltd for the lump sum price of $2,697,410.10 (including GST).

A proposed four-year project budget allocation of $34.76 million has been put forward for the project, with $15 million stumped up from the NSW government and $10 million in federal funding.